Delta Pilots Disapprove Of DOT Decision On Slot Swap With US Airways
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NEWSROOM

Delta Pilots
Disapprove Of DOT Decision On Slot Swap With US
Airways

By
Antonio Percy

February 17, 2010
- In a letter to Delta pilots on Saturday, Captain Lee Moak, chairman of
the Delta branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that
represents over 12,000 Delta pilots, criticized last week’s decision by
the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) which places “onerous and
likely deal-breaking conditions” on a proposal by Delta and US Airways
to exchange
takeoff and landing “slots” in New York and Washington, DC. He
characterized the decision as anti-labor, anti-consumer, anti-business
and an aggressive intrusion of government into an already overregulated
industry.

Under the terms of
the joint petition Delta would have transferred 42 pairs of slots to US
Airways at Ronald Reagan Washington National along with international
route authority to Sao Paulo
and Tokyo.
In exchange, US Airways would have transferred 125 pairs of slots at New York’s LaGuardia
airport to Delta and leased another 15 pairs with the option to
purchase.

DOT granted the carriers’ joint petition but conditioned the approval on
the divestiture of 14 pairs of slots at Reagan National (33 percent of
the total) and 20 pairs of slots at LaGuardia (16 percent of the total).
The DOT also dictated the timing of the sale and a short list of
government selected beneficiaries of the divestiture. These conditions
“substantially weaken the value of the deal and will likely render it
unacceptable to both airlines,” Captain Moak wrote. “Let me be clear.
The DOT’s decision is not only anti-business; it is also anti-consumer
and anti-labor.”

The joint Delta/US Airways proposal would have allowed both carriers to
capitalize on their network strengths allowing the airlines to maintain
existing air service and also add new nonstop service between two of America’s top business markets and small and
medium-sized communities across the United States

.

Over 30 years after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, airlines
remain subject to excessive government regulation. “DOT has unilaterally
decided its charter is not only to substitute its policies for the free
market, but also to serve in ‘creating new and additional competition.’
In a free market economy, that is not the role of government,” Captain
Moak wrote. “DOT’s claims that their actions are designed to protect the
consumer are based on inconsistent arguments that are speculative in
nature and unsupported by critical analysis.”

“For both the
consumer and labor, the reality is that the long-term interests of both
are best served by a vigorously healthy, profitable, flourishing airline
industry, and when the government interferes in the free-market process
. . . that simply cannot happen. In fact, what the traveling public
often takes for granted when they travel —highly skilled professional
employees earning competitive wages, an exemplary safety record, broad
consumer choice and even inexpensive fares—can only exist long term
against the backdrop of a profitable and successful airline industry.
Viewed from this perspective, there is no rational way to justify the
DOT’s recent ruling.”

“If the DOT order
is implemented in its current form, the transaction will likely not go
forward simply because the economic benefit will no longer exist. That
will result in the loss of business opportunities for our company, the
loss of increased choices for consumers in small and medium-sized
communities and the loss of job growth opportunities for Delta pilots
and our fellow employees,” Captain Moak wrote. “Put another way, the DOT
will have regulated a perfect trifecta of failure—a true lose-lose-lose
scenario for the carriers, the consumer and labor.”